In San Antonio, it's not difficult to find someone playing an accordion. But this year, fans won't experience the concentrated, diverse squeezebox sounds that have ruled La Villita since the International Accordion Festival started in 2001.

The 12th annual festival, originally scheduled for this weekend, will not happen.

“In our book, we have not cancelled 2012, we have postponed it 11 months,” said Pat Jasper, a co-founder of the International Accordion Festival and a member of its board of directors.

Jasper, director of folklife & traditional arts with the Houston Arts Alliance, said she is “dedicated to this festival re-upping its ante in September of 2013.”

A lack of concession sales “hurts us in a rain year,” said Joe Benjamin, the chairman of the festival's board of directors and an architect at Lake Flato. “Grants tend to help fund the festival. They help pay for artists, security and hotel rooms. Proceeds from the sale of beer, concessions and products provide the start-up money for the following year.”

Moving the festival to Sept. 13-15, 2013, will bring it in line with the city's fiscal year, which runs Oct. 1-Sept. 30.

“The Office of Cultural Affairs could never give us our funding level until the City Council met in early September,” Jasper said. “That was hard on us. If you go through a hard year, it decreases your margins. And we always paid our artists. It's as simple as that.”

Juan Tejeda is an accordionist and leader of Conjunto Aztlan and director of the Conjunto Music Program at Palo Alto College. He also is a co-founder and coordinator of the long-running Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio and was a co-founder of the International Accordion Festival. Though he's no longer involved in the accordion festival, he's still a fan.

“The International Accordion Festival is totally unique. There's not another festival like it in the world,” Tejeda said. “It's not just another festival. The accordion tradition is throughout the world. It's a working-class instrument. The festival is an opportunity for San Antonio, the state and the nation to experience the accordion traditions of the world.”

“The festival has a large fan base, and that's attributable to the talent we bring in,” he said. “There's variety in the audience and variety from old to young. That's because the festival has presented everything from hip-hop with accordion to polkas to zydeco.”

Accordionist Mark Weber, leader of the conjunto Los Cuernos and host of radio station KEDA's Sunday program “El Gringo de Domingo,” has attended the festival since its inception.

“The accordion is worldwide. The festival showcases all kinds of music, and it's an appreciation of culture,” Weber said. “Maybe we're inspiring other people. Who knows? To me, it's easier to appreciate other cultures when you appreciate their music.”